I just replaced my cmc and I am grateful NotoriousOne had posted his. I used a Dorman brand which has a metal housing. I wanted to get away from the plastic ones. Neverless installation went pretty good. My issue was bleeding. Tried pump method, then the mityvac which was better but still getting air bubbles. So I broke out the vacuum pump and had my son help me. This worked the best for me, just had to keep an eye on reservoir. Fluid was moving through system pretty fast. Did this until fluid was clean, but was hard to tell if all of the air bubbles were gone. Since the pump was pulling it out so fast. My question is there is some free play in clutch pedal. I don't remember if it was there before repair. Did a test drive and everything seems good. I might try and hand bleed it now.

Nice how to! I think this may be what is wrong with my little Pepper.... i got an 05 focus ZX4 St model and she is pitch black... she has over 200k miles on her and i aint letting go of her so easy! back when it got cold outside i had to clean my throttle body cuz the cold weather made it have that sticky kinda feelin... but none the less i got that fixed and i recently replaced both of my fog light bulbs... and i did it all by myself! And i am a female... but i dont mind to get my hands dirty and greasy! Im a tom boy kinda gal... but i can clean up perty nice! anyways, some guys like it that im a rare breed lol and others are intimidated lol but i dont intend on being intimidating... i just like to work on my own stuff so that i know it gets done the right way... the only one i trusted with my cars was my daddy and he is gone since april of 2013.. so im glad he taught me all the things he did teach me! This is a very good how to! I come here for all my issues... thanks for being there and making these threads!!!! Yall have a wonderful day! And wish me luck on getting my little Pepper going...

I did the Clutch Master Cylinder on my 2003 SVTF thanks to you all and the info this thread (and the Ford Workshop Manual) it went off without a hitch! Here are my notes:

Start with fluid down to the 'min' mark

No need to take the battery out: popping out the air box and unmounting the fuse box is enough

As others have said, a pick with a 90 bend at the end is the perfect tool for popping the wire clips from the connectors. Take a look at your new CMC and notice the groove you can fit your pick into that sits under the middle/top of the wire clip (top is oriented towards the driver side). I was able to get them in a few minutes. Don't worry if they shoot off somewhere because as others have said, you never take out the wire clips on the new CMC so no chance to loose them: you just snap in the lines with them in place. Top (input) hose line popped out immediately. I didn't have any rust on the bottom (output) connector, and it came loose after a bit of tugging.

After taking the four sensors off, I followed the workshop manual to remove the entire clutch/break pedal assembly. I think it is easier than NotoriousOne's instructions since you can swap the CMC at the workbench. I found it easier to first remove the four bolts holding the assembly on before removing the break pedal locking tang (white plastic pin at the break pedal pivot). Note this is the opposite order from the workshop manual.

At the bench it took a bit of tapping to get the new CMC to line up with the bolt holes. I left the clutch spring installed and just held the clutch pedal down a bit as I tapped the CMC to get it to line up.

I bench bled the CMC next. I followed the instructions that came with my Craftsman Professional Brake Bleeder Kit (supposedly identical to MityVac MV8500) which basically says after filling with fluid to vaccum on each of the two ports while the other is plugged. I never got any bubbles out of it, so I don't think I effectively did anything other than fill it with fluid. Maybe its more important on other/older CMC designs? I used a couple rubber stoppers from the kit until I was ready to bolt the assy back in place. The ports angle up slightly when the CMC is installed so with a bit of luck you won't spill much when you take the stoppers out.

Reversing the removal to install the pedal assembly went smoothly, and the fluid line connectors snapped in easily

Now I thought the fun would start--the bleeding process. A lot of people mentioned they used a MityVac, but I think most are using it on vacuum. As bboyjamin mentioned, the workshop manual says to pressure pump UP from the bleeder. Someone else mentioned trying this and had trouble with the hose popping off the pump once pressure builds up. I experienced this too, but I was able to get around it by opening up the bleeder further and holding the hose on. I also vacuum pumped until the line to the pump was all fluid first.

I started pumping and to my surprise it actually worked and fluid in the reservoir started rising. I stopped when it reach the max (a couple 100 ML I think). I then tightened the bleeder with an open end wrench as best I could (a bit of a squeeze since I didn't remove the battery), and then I removed the hose. I had the valve closed enough that a drop of fluid was sitting in the valve so I knew air wasn't going in or fluid was leaking out. I then torqued the bleeder back to spec

Tested the clutch and never felt better! With this method, bleeding was super easy and I got it on the first try--no 20 minutes of pumping the clutch or using tons of fluid like others have described. Keep in mind that the cheaper plastic MityVac can only vacuum, it cannot pressure pump, so you'll have to spring another $20 and get the metal one.

I just bought a clean used 2007 2.0 PZEV ZX3. It needed the typical Focus fixes but the price was right. Before starting on the leaking CMC I read (between the lines) all 14 pages of this thread and then developed this plan. Install time including bleeding was 90min total.
Required: New CMC, DOT3 brake fluid, 1/4" & 3/8" metric socket sets with extensions, screw drivers, 10mm combination wrench, turkey baster, syringe (from pet store - for bird feeding), 1ft of 1/4" OD poly tube (drip irrigation), two 1/4 drip tube plugs, + lots of rags. There will be some fluid leakage so put cardboard or something under the drivers side of the engine. You may also want to have a can of Berryman B-12 Throttle body cleaner (throttle body & idle air control) and CRC QD cleaner (Mass air flow) just because these parts will be easily accessed now and should be cleaned occasionally anyway. If the car has 100,000 miles or more and has the original trans mount change it now also.
There is no need to remove the seat, pedals, air resonator, jack up car,or remove the front wheel. Study all of the photos in the preceding posts to locate all the applicable parts.
If a 70 year old chubby guy (Me) can do this repair so can you.
1. Remove battery, battery box, dash panel under steering column, & air hose between throttle body & resonator.
2. Unbolt & unclip fuse/relay box (located between battery and firewall) & move to the side.
3. Remove as much fluid as possible from the clutch/brake reservoir. (use turkey baster)
4. Disconnect hoses from CMC at firewall. I used a long small flat blade screwdriver and pushed the hose in while removing the clips. Got both loose on 1st try. Have a rag handy as it will leak. IMPORTANT: Keep the pressure hose (the lower one) elevated so that no fluid drains from it.
5. Unsnap and remove the switch from bracket under the CMC. Remove the rubber button stop from the clutch pedal to allow a little more up travel. Bend the switch bracket down until it is slightly behind the clutch pedal.
6. Remove two self tapping bolts, spring clip, disconnect push pod, & remove the CMC.
7. Use the two self tapping bolts to pre-tap the mounting holes in the new CMC, this will make it much easier to tighten the bolts under the dash.
8. Put about 6oz of new DOT3 fluid in a cup or small jar. Push the two 1/4"x6" tubes into the new CMC ports. Fill the syringe from the cup (remove any air bubbles) then holding the CMC upright (same as mounting position) inject fluid into the bottom hose until a solid stream of fluid comes out of the upper hose & back into the cup. Rotate the CMC so that both hoses are pointed up & the install plugs into the hoses. Keep hoses pointed up until installed.
9. Being careful with the hoses install the new CMC, bend the bracket back, reinstall switch, rubber button, & the dash panel. IMPORTANT: Do not to push in the clutch pedal yet!!
10. Remove the rubber cap from clutch bleed screw on the transaxle and put it over the open end of the hose from the reservoir. Fill the reservoir with new fluid. With rag in hand remover the rubber cap allowing fluid to leak into rag until stream is solid then cap hose with your fingertip. Remove the upper temporary hose and slowly but firmly plug the upper hose into the CMC. A little leakage while plugging in will flush air out. Fill the reservoir again!
11. Using the syringe make sure the lower pressure hose is full to end with fluid. With rag under the lower CMC port remove lower temporary hose, squirt fluid into the CMC port with syringe & quickly install the lower hose. The system is now pre-bled but may have small air bubbles at each hose connection. It might work but lets bleed it the old school way.
12. Put a 12mm 1/4" drive socket with long extension & ratchet on the bleed screw. You will have the ratchet located just beneath the throttle body. Have an assistant pump the clutch pedal 3 times and hold to floor, open and close the bleed screw, release pedal. Repeat 4 times. KEEP THE RESERVOIR FULL. Replace the rubber cap.
13. Now is a great time to check & clean the throttle body, idle air control, mass air flow, also check the trans mount. (not included in the 90 minutes)
14. Re-secure fuse/relay box, install battery box & battery, & air hose. Time is up.
Test drive, remember the computer will need a little time to return to normal.

My 2000 Zetec ZX3 finally returned home and I have confirmed that by replacing the line # above with the one following the instructions will apply to older ones also.
1. Remove air filter housing & dash cover under steering wheel.
2. Unclip fuse/relay box and move aside.
12. Use the same tools on the bleed screw but it is NOT located under the throttle body. It is actually a little to right of the Zetec ignition coil and about 6" below the fiberglass insulated stainless steel tube.
13. At least clean the mass air flow sensor but maybe save the other things for a different day.
14. Re-secure fuse/relay box and install air filter housing.
Done

Last edited by GoldCountryRuss; 01-31-2015 at 02:04 AM.
Reason: Added changes that apply to early Zetecs.

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